|
Related links Mount Sinai School of Medicine |
HMOs cut corners on skin biopsies
Posted
5-8-2000 New York. The American Academy of Dermatology has warned that skin biopsies to determine if a patient has cancer too often are being performed by insufficiently trained pathologists. Last month, the organization claimed that, to save money, many managed care companies require physicians to send skin biopsies to laboratories that may not be staffed by dermatopathologists – physicians specifically trained in clinically diagnosing skin biopsies. The statement was issued jointly with the American Society of Dermatopathology. "Instead, the biopsies might be read by a liver pathologist who has never seen a skin biopsy," said Mark Lebwohl, MD, professor and chairman of the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "The quality of work done by many of these HMO-mandated labs is nothing short of atrocious." Representatives of the managed care industry dispute these claims. "Many healthcare plans use dermatopathologists as a matter of routine," said Laura Diamond, a spokeswoman with the American Association of Health Plans. "And many allow their members or their doctors to request a second opinion if they feel one is necessary. We’re confident in the quality of care that people are receiving." An estimated 1.3 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States, and skin biopsies are a vital step in determining whether a suspicious skin lesion is a cancerous melanoma or simply a harmless mole. Yet a study by the academy found more than 60 percent of its members worked for managed care companies that did not allow them to send skin biopsies to a dermatopathologist. "Dermatologists don’t stand to make an extra dime if managed care companies change this policy," Lebwohl said. "But HMOs will save in the long run as potentially deadly cancers are caught early, while they’re still treatable."
|